The Future of the Past
by EmmaoftheValley
Summary: Set in Catching Fire. Disregarding the rules like always, Katniss Everdeen takes her children and makes a trip to the past  with a time travel device found in the Capitol . How will everyone react to the older version of Katniss Everdeen? AU.


**Setting: Catching Fire right after they get their scores (both 12). Haymitch, Cinna, Portia, Effie, Peeta, and Katniss were the ones who watched. **

**Peeta's Point of View**

It was the night before our interview and we had just gotten our scores. Both are twelves.

"Why did they do that?" Katniss asks.

"So that others will have no choice but to target you," says Haymitch flatly. "Go to bed. I can't stand to look at either one of you."

I walk Katniss down to her room in silence.

She wraps her arms around me and rests her head against my chest.

I try to imagine us dead in a few days, but I'm coming up short. Haymitch has agreed to help me and I will do everything I can and maybe, maybe Katniss will make it out alive.

"So what should we do with our last few days?" she asks me.

I look at her for a moment and the familiar feeling swells up in my chest.

"I just want to spend every possible minute of the rest of my life with you," I reply.

"Come on, then," she says, pulling me into her room.

I had had plans to discuss the interview with Haymitch. I couldn't sleep right now, even if I tried.

"Katniss," I say, already feeling guilty because I know I could help her from having nightmares. "I promise, I'll come back when I'm done… but I'm not ready for bed."

I see disappointment cross her disposition but she hides it in a second.

"Okay, come back though," she smiles, and I see a strange glint in her eyes that I can't quite place.

"Absolutely," I say fervently. I kiss her forehead tentatively before I can restrain myself and swiftly exit.

The others are still in the TV room, re-watching our scores. They all look up as I enter.

"I thought I told you to go to bed," Haymitch grumbles.

"Couldn't sleep," I say offhandedly, grabbing a few nuts out of a bowl on the coffee table and sitting down between Haymitch and Cinna.

Everyone is very subdued. It aggravates me; Katniss and I are the ones in real danger, yet they don't even try to console us.

Of course, I would never expect them to… but for some reason it rubs me the wrong way.

"If Katniss and I thought for a second that our deaths weren't already planned out we wouldn't have done those things," I say angrily to the silence. "But I'm glad we did it, and I don't care if you're all pissed we got twelves."

No one says anything, but Haymitch claps me on the back, and we continue to watch.

Afterwards, I put in a random Hunger Games. Portia leaves, but the rest are still sitting on the couch.

All of a sudden there's a loud thump on the door. Not a knock, but as if someone is trying to break through. I stand up, Haymitch at my side.

Someone bursts through. I can't tell what gender they are, because they are in a full black suit, including helmet; except for the arms, which are white.

It looks like a warrior outfit and it looks expensive, complete with a helmet, goggles, and face mask. I immediately think it's some Capitol goon, and my mind goes to Katniss sleeping unknowingly in her room.

I can tell Haymitch thinks something along the same line.

My face lines with anger as I shove the person down, whom I think is a girl, by the slender body shape.

They hit the wall with an oomph.

I turn to the others in the room to see if I had just made an enormous mistake, but they all just look confused as to who could be here. Except Cinna.

Cinna looks as if he's in a daze.

I don't have time to ask what's wrong with him because the unidentified person is trying to stand up.

I immediately kick them back down, and an undeniably girl-like scream releases from their lips.

I rip their face mask off and hold my fist threateningly in the air.

"Who are you? What's your name? Tell me now!" I demand.

"My name is Katniss!" the girl shouts, but it's not Katniss, because the voice is too rough and why would Katniss be in this Capitol outfit?

"Liar!" I say, baring my teeth and holding the girl against the wall with my hand on her chest.

"It's Katniss, Katniss Mellark!" she says urgently, and this time it does sound like Katniss.

And I stop because I hear her name mingled with mine and it sounds lovely.

I pull off the helmet and goggles more gently this time and find that it does look like Katniss… but something's off.

Her eyes, though, they are the same.

"Can I stand up now, or are you going to shove me down again?" she asks calmly, but with a sarcastic edge.

I stand up guardedly and allow her to do the same. I'm gawking because I can't tell what is so different, but there is something.

She pulls off her gloves and shoves them in a back pocket. She presses a button on her shoulder and her armor folds down until it's a little metal box on the ground.

She looks to Cinna with a glint of longing and says, "We made some modifications on the armor. It's glorious, however. Perfect."

Cinna nods.

I look at the person who claims she is Katniss and examine her.

I can plainly see the differences between this Katniss and the real one.

The one standing before me is… fuller.

She has curves, and her lips are full, and she looks healthier.

Older, is my final conclusion. The woman (who is indeed a woman) standing before me must be in her twenties.

"You're too old to be Katniss," I tell her.

She looks into my eyes fiercely.

"I imagine seeing you… every day. Every day of my life I imagine meeting with you again. And kissing you. And loving you. And what our life would be like if we didn't have the revolution," she pauses, her eyes growing wide as if she wasn't supposed to say something.

"I imagined what it would be like if I did exactly what I'm doing right now and never, not once did I imagine you would shove me down and yell," she barks.

Everyone in the room was frozen. What is this person talking about?

"Why did you say your last name was Mellark?" I ask softly.

"That is my legal name… I had it changed. We never actually… get the chance to marry, but I've always felt like it's kind of an unspoken truth," she says, much calmer.

"I dont even know who you are," I say, shaking my head.

All of a sudden I hear a little voice at the door. "Mommy, are you okay?" whimpers a little girl. She is crying. A little boy is standing behind her, and they are holding hands.

I realize that they must've just seen me push down their mother.

"I told you to wait outside, Rue," the woman says with a stern yet understanding reprimand.

The little girl, not being able to restrain herself, runs over and latches on to her mother's leg. She begins sobbing into her pants.

"But that man pushed you," the girl whimpers out, nearly in hysterics.

The Katniss impersonator kneels down.

"Rue, what did I say? We must be strong, okay?" she croons.

The little girl, Rue, immediately wipes her tears on her sleeves and tries to compose herself.

"Good, look at your brother. Look how strong he's being," the woman nods toward the doorway.

All eyes go to the door where a little boy is standing, staring straight at me.

"Peeta… he looks just like you," Haymitch says quietly.

He does. He has blonde hair and the same skin tone as me. Naturally, he still has boyish features and whatnot… he couldn't of been more than four. It was honestly an exact replica of me as a child.

I look to see if the girl looks like me, but she definitely looks more like Katniss. Except her blue eyes, just like mine. I couldn't see the boy's eyes.

"Doesn't he?" smiled the mother proudly. "His name's Peeta, too."

I shake my head, clearing my thoughts.

"Who are you? What is this? What are you trying to do?" I demand.

"I am Katniss Mellark," she begins, taking a deep breath. "These are our children, Peeta."

My eyes stretch wide and I stare at the two little children with more fervent observations.

"Rue and Peeta. They are twins. They are four. I am twenty-one," she explains.

I'm about to speak but she interrupts me.

"We are from the future," she says. That pulls me up short.

"There is a rebellion right now. I cannot describe anything to you… cannot tell you why or how or where this rebellion is, because if I alter the time-line it could be catastrophic. On a special mission trip to the Capitol they found this machine. Our inventers ran tests, we determined it to be a time-machine. Immediately, I thought of you. I wanted to come back and see you," she explains.

"I am not with you… four years from now?" I ask quietly.

"You are dead," she says flatly, her eyes glazing over.

My breathing hitches.

"Naturally, they wouldn't let me. Right up refused. But I wanted you to meet your children, and I wanted to say goodbye… because I never got to say goodbye," she's getting choked up.

"I never meet my children?" I ask, my voice cracking. "But if they are four… you had them when you were seventeen? We're seventeen now… and we've never…" I remark, trailing off.

"We do. Before the second games," she explains, as if it's a minor detail.

"When?!" I blurt out, confused.

She smiles.

"Peeta, that is not the point," she smiles admiringly.

My mind is spinning. "So you are pregnant during the second games?"

"Yes," she says simply.

"And I never meet my children so I die… soon?" I say quietly.

"Yes," she whispers, but continues on with her story.

"So I found a way around the rules," Katniss explains.

Haymitch laughs. "Surprise, surprise."

Katniss looks to Haymitch with a hint of a smile.

"I wouldn'tt be laughing if I were you," she says good-humoredly. "You're going to downright rip my head off when I get back."

The little girl is brightened by her mother's good mood.

"Uncle Haymitch wouldn't do that, Mommy," she assures, walking over to Haymitch.

He bends down.

I feel a strange pang of jealousy at the fact that my daughter recognizes him and not me.

Rue touches Haymitch's cheek lovingly.

"You look old," she states simply.

Everyone laughs.

"You do," Katniss says. "You get a lot better in a few years… much easier to tolerate."

Haymitch smiles sarcastically.

"Anyway," Katniss begins." I found a way around the rules and here I am. Even if this room is monitored, they can't detect me, or Rue and Peeta. There's a cloaking device on my armor."

And now, as if she can't restrain it another second, she runs and jumps to Cinna.

"Oh Cinna, I miss you so much!" she says earnestly.

Cinna smiles. "You liked the armor?"

"Liked it? Cinna… I wear it everywhere. And the dress for the interview… you are the most brilliant person I've ever known and I'm so glad I ever met you," she says earnestly.

"But that was stupid. And maybe necessary… but you couldve lived, you could be with us today if you wanted," she reprimands.

"You don't need me," he assures.

"Look at you," Cinna says. "You're all grown up. If I had had this body to work with…"

He spins her around.

"I dont have much time, maybe twenty more minutes before we need to leave," Katniss says to everyone.

She picks up Rue and places her firmly in my arms.

I feel stiff and awkward because this is all so strange.

But I think that Katniss had to be a mother at my age… and she didn't have me… and she is still fighting in a revolution, so I try. But I feel stupid holding this little girl.

Katniss wraps her arm around my neck and leans her forehead against mine, looking into my eyes fiercely.

"This is the only memory she will have with her father. This is the only time you will ever meet her. Give her something… give him something… give me something," she pleads.

I look over to the door where the little boy that looks like me is still standing, staring straight at me.

I turn to Haymitch and Cinna and Effie. "Can you leave us alone, please?"

My voice is shaky and they all look at me with so much pity it's almost overwhelming. Even Haymitch.

They quietly exit.

I feel Rue's little hand stroking my cheek and I look at her.

She grins, showing her gap-toothed smile.

"Your eyes are blue like mine," she comments.

"I think yours are prettier," I smile.

She leans in and kisses my nose.

"Rue, this is your daddy," Katniss says softly, stroking the girl's long, braided hair.

"I know," she says evenly. "Is he coming back with us?"

"I don't think so," Katniss says, but quickly deflects the conversation.

"Peeta, come over here please," she calls to the little boy at the door.

Peeta looks almost angry.

He storms over.

"Can you say hello, please?" Katniss asks.

The little boy looks up into my eyes, and then all of a sudden starts punching my legs.

It's not hurting me (physically, at least) but he continues to whack my legs over and over again.

Then he's crying into my knee… sobbing, really.

"Why would you leave me?" he asks through his tears. Snot is dripping down his face and his cheeks are wet and he looks so pathetic I feel like a heartless killer.

I kneel down.

"I'm not lying as I say, I would do anything if I could just be with you… and Rue, and your mother."

Katniss puts a hand on the small of my back as she kneels down and pets Rue's hair.

"It's not his fault, Peeta, okay? You can't blame him. You wouldn't be here without him and he loves you," Katniss assures the little boy.

It amazes me how fast she comes up with that.

"Okay," Peeta says, wiping his eyes.

Then, as if someone flipped a switch, his hands are touching my face and holding my hand as if hes known me his entire life.

I sit down and cross my legs and Rue crawls right on top of my lap and leans against my chest.

I feel Katniss's hand pulling my face towards hers.

It may be weird because she is now older than me but I don't feel weird as I lean in and kiss her.

I like this kiss because it's complete and she knows she loves me.

Then I stiffen. Katniss loves me?

I can't believe I only just remember all of this.

"Katniss... I thought our relationship was fake?" I ask seriously.

She cradles my face in both her hands.

"Listen to me… maybe I dont realize it when I'm seventeen… But I love you so much. Please, trust me, I love you so much. Always," she assures.

I kiss her again, long and sweet.

I hear Rue giggle.

Katniss is pulled out of our kiss.

"I almost forgot! I want to take a picture," she says, as if it's the most important thing. Maybe it is.

She takes out a little square, sets it on a table in front of us, and presses a button.

She scoots next to me and I put my arm around her shoulder.

Rue is curled up in my lap and she peeks through her hair at the picture.

Peeta is standing off to the side.

"Peeta, smile at the camera, sweetie," Katniss asks him.

He looks at the camera, but doesn't change his expression.

I grab him around the waist and push him up in the air, tickling his sides.

"Smile!" I prompt, but I dont need to because he's laughing so hard it's contagious and Rue is looking up at him from my lap grinning and Katniss is holding her stomach she's laughing so hard as she watches Peeta getting twirled in the air.

And I'm looking at Katniss because she is so beautiful when she's happy.

The picture takes.

We sit there together for a few more minutes, not talking, just breathing.

"We have to go," Katniss says quietly.

I stiffen because I nearly forgot they weren't normally with me.

"Stay," I plead.

She shakes her head. "You have younger Katniss, and she needs you so much. "

"But I want Rue and Peeta and you," I say.

Katniss stands up and gets her square box of armor, presses a button, and it forms around her.

I get up too, holding my two sleeping children in each arm. My heart is heavy as I look at them.

"I'm fighting in a revolution, Peeta," Katniss tries to console me. "I have to go back."

Tears are falling freely down my face, but the little sleepers dont wake up.

"Take me with you… I'll come back with you. You saw Peeta," I beg. "He needs me!"

"I can't," she says, and now tears are falling down her cheeks. "I can't Peeta… I would! Don't think I wouldn't!"

My nose is red and I probably look like a child as I blubber.

"Katniss, I don't want to die… I want to be with you," I say again.

She kisses me fiercely. "I love you."

"I love you, too," I get out.

She opens the door and I follow her, still carrying Rue and Peeta.

Cinna, Effie, and Haymitch are standing in the hall.

I think that we must be a sight; both sobbing like children as the actual children sleep in my arms.

"Please, Katniss, I'll come with you!" I plead again.

"You can't, Peeta! I want you to so much but if you did Rue and Peeta wouldn't exist and I'd probably be dead and the whole time-line would be messed up!" she insists.

We stare at each other for a few moments.

"I have to go," she says, holding out her hands for the kids.

"I'm not giving them up," I say stubbornly.

She reaches for something on her wrist, twists it, presses a few buttons, and I watch as it starts spinning.

They kind of seem like they're starting to fade.

I panic.

"Don't leave!" I scream, sounding as if I'm in agony. It's amazing the kids haven't woken up.

I lean down and start smothering them both with kisses.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," I murmur with each kiss.

Katniss places a hand on my cheek, whispers I love you, and then they are completely faded and my arms have nothing in them.

I fall to the ground in a heap.

"Dammit!" I yell. "Dammit."

I have that feeling I haven't gotten since I was a child, the one where you can't control your breathing because you're so worked up and you just keep sucking in breaths.

Haymitch puts a hand on my shoulder but I shake him off and curl in on myself. I feel utterly hysteric.

I can hear Effie crying and I think Cinna is too, but I don't listen.

Eventually I can contain myself and I walk to Katnisss room, where we make love for the first and last time.

**Katniss's Point of View (Older)**

I appear back at District 13 HQ, a line of people waiting for me. Haymitch, Gale, Beetee, Finnick, a mass of other people who think they need to direct my life.

But I can't think about them right now because I feel like someone just ripped my insides out.

I fall to the ground and cover my face, sobbing.

Gale rubs my back and Haymitch waits for me to finish and the others do, too.

Rue and Peeta are still sleeping soundly on the floor.

When I finish, I sit up and look at Haymitch.

"What were you thinking?" he begins. "That was so irresponsible… and for no real point! You have more important things to worry about, Katniss!"

He's still yelling as I get up and walk a few paces forward to where a large screen is that we normally watch war updates on.

I grab the camera I brought to the past out of my back pocket and plug it onto the adaptor that will send it straight onto the large screen.

There's only one picture on it, I don't need to search.

It shows up instantly.

Me, Peeta, and the kids… the picture we had just taken.

I hadn't looked at it yet.

My little Peeta is laughing, pure joy etched all over his face… and everyone here knows he's not much of a smiler.

Rue is grinning up admiringly at her father holding her brother. It looks like she's never seen something so amazing.

I'm laughing out right, clutching my stomach, as I watch Peeta twirl my little boy around.

But the most immaculate person, I think, is Peeta himself.

He is looking at my face, just my face. He's barely smiling, but he seems so happy… and young… and alive, actually _alive_. It looks as though I'm the most glorious sight he'd ever seen as he looks at me laughing.

Haymitch stops short.

It subdues everyone to even see Peeta again, let alone with me and his children.

"Oh, Katniss," Finnick whispers in awe.

Haymitch has to leave, he's so upset. He really did love Peeta… just like everyone loves Peeta.

**AN: I edited this to fix a lot of grammatical errors. I can't even remember how long ago it was when I wrote this! Hope/ glad everyone enjoyed. **


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